Been whiling away time thinking,
& doing a little surfing, & i found these:
Purgatory University - hilarious!
& i have a Nawful Feeling these guys are serious!
Dunno what to make of them..
Are they some kind of fruit-cake convention maybe?
"A little nonsense now & then
Is relished by the wisest men."
I've also seen the following:
"A little nonsense in the Spring
Is relished even by the King."
Two of my favourite Nonsenseers are
Lewis Carroll & Edward Lear
Failing that, there are always the Vogons..
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
I meant to get some Work Done {sigh}..
..but i got side-tracked!
'Frustrated' would be a better word:
*Online banking is usually fairly straightforward for me - i've been doing it for years, but accessing my Recharge Card is proving to be bloody annoyingly difficult! I can't work out if the bloody thing is accessible only via Internet Explorer (which i hate & try never to use), if it has some complicated registration/log-on procedure involving galactic-sized ID numbers, & whether my bank has done anything about it since i last complained..
* All i wanted to do was to get Windows Media Player to turn some .wma files into MP3 files so i could listen to them on my little MP3 player - nope!! WMP'll 'rip' them from a CD but can't/won't (dunno which!) transmogrify them into MP3 files {sigh}..
*By the time i got thru all that, a sizable chunk of my time had been wasted, not to mention an entire SecureMail to my bank because its website timed-out & my email disappeared into a cyber-hole somewhere.. My second attempt was shorter, & probably rather testy..
*I'm now feeling tired & crabby & not up to doing any work at all!
Maybe tomorrow {sigh}.. :-(
'Frustrated' would be a better word:
*Online banking is usually fairly straightforward for me - i've been doing it for years, but accessing my Recharge Card is proving to be bloody annoyingly difficult! I can't work out if the bloody thing is accessible only via Internet Explorer (which i hate & try never to use), if it has some complicated registration/log-on procedure involving galactic-sized ID numbers, & whether my bank has done anything about it since i last complained..
* All i wanted to do was to get Windows Media Player to turn some .wma files into MP3 files so i could listen to them on my little MP3 player - nope!! WMP'll 'rip' them from a CD but can't/won't (dunno which!) transmogrify them into MP3 files {sigh}..
*By the time i got thru all that, a sizable chunk of my time had been wasted, not to mention an entire SecureMail to my bank because its website timed-out & my email disappeared into a cyber-hole somewhere.. My second attempt was shorter, & probably rather testy..
*I'm now feeling tired & crabby & not up to doing any work at all!
Maybe tomorrow {sigh}.. :-(
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Hubbard's Cupboard - & Conflict Of Interest!
If Godzone's officialdom has a blind spot about anything, it's Conflict Of Interest.
Now i don't pretend to know all the ins & outs of what actually happened to bring down South Canterbury Finance, beyond the fairly clear evidence (according to People Who Should Know) that some of Aorangi Securities's lending practices were not entirely kosher.
There was, however, one little detail that puzzled me greatly..
AFAIK, when a company gets into 'difficulties', the usual practice is to put the company under statutory management or equivalent. So far, so ok.. No problem there; it's what any normal person would expect.
But it wasn't just Aorangi that got clobbered!
Why was it necessary to put Alan Hubbard & his wife on the scaffold, so to speak?
As i said, that puzzled me.. until something slimy crawled out from under its stone!
Whom do i believe?
Hubbard's supporters?
The Securities Commission?
Hubbard himself?
The Government? According to the NZ Herald article:
"Labour has been putting pressure on the Government
to be fully transparent about its handling of SCF,
and has called for a commission of inquiry.
Hubbard supporters have also
called for a public inquiry,
but yesterday Prime Minister John Key said
he didn't see a need for that."
Maybe the situation isn't as rotten as the NZ Rail debacle back in the day..
I read somewhere that if Fay Richwhite had done what they did in the US, they'd've faced a jail term. It does seem quite bizarre that an entity, any entity, can act as a consultant to the Government on how to prepare a government department for privatization, then change hats, so to speak, & front up as a potential buyer for the same aforementioned department - it's called Insider Trading, it's illegal in the US & several other countries, but Tranz Rail stumbled on, pushed this way & that, subjected to Asset Stripping & morphing into various other commercial shapes until finally Helen Clark's Labour Government bought the bloody thing back for $665M..
The reverse side of the Conflict of Interest coin is the incompetence shown by various entities, public & private, in vetting applicants for senior positions. The latest example is Stephen Wilce (hehe) but various high-profile cases have been in the news in recent months..
Now i don't pretend to know all the ins & outs of what actually happened to bring down South Canterbury Finance, beyond the fairly clear evidence (according to People Who Should Know) that some of Aorangi Securities's lending practices were not entirely kosher.
There was, however, one little detail that puzzled me greatly..
AFAIK, when a company gets into 'difficulties', the usual practice is to put the company under statutory management or equivalent. So far, so ok.. No problem there; it's what any normal person would expect.
But it wasn't just Aorangi that got clobbered!
Why was it necessary to put Alan Hubbard & his wife on the scaffold, so to speak?
As i said, that puzzled me.. until something slimy crawled out from under its stone!
Whom do i believe?
Hubbard's supporters?
The Securities Commission?
Hubbard himself?
The Government? According to the NZ Herald article:
"Labour has been putting pressure on the Government
to be fully transparent about its handling of SCF,
and has called for a commission of inquiry.
Hubbard supporters have also
called for a public inquiry,
but yesterday Prime Minister John Key said
he didn't see a need for that."
Maybe the situation isn't as rotten as the NZ Rail debacle back in the day..
I read somewhere that if Fay Richwhite had done what they did in the US, they'd've faced a jail term. It does seem quite bizarre that an entity, any entity, can act as a consultant to the Government on how to prepare a government department for privatization, then change hats, so to speak, & front up as a potential buyer for the same aforementioned department - it's called Insider Trading, it's illegal in the US & several other countries, but Tranz Rail stumbled on, pushed this way & that, subjected to Asset Stripping & morphing into various other commercial shapes until finally Helen Clark's Labour Government bought the bloody thing back for $665M..
The reverse side of the Conflict of Interest coin is the incompetence shown by various entities, public & private, in vetting applicants for senior positions. The latest example is Stephen Wilce (hehe) but various high-profile cases have been in the news in recent months..
Day for Night - well, summer Was coming.. :-[
Just when i was getting back on track..
Yes, this Is a whinge!
Had to leave class last week because of my recurring problem with re-entering 'society' i.e. other people - i cop their infectoids: viruses, bacteria etc, in this case a miserable little cold! Now i'm behind again, been stuck @ home with a computer with:
* inadequate memory, which may require a 'credit card upgrade'
* a woefully slow broadband connection (ditto my neighbours, i've checked).
Makes getting around the web bloody tedious, & downloading even more so!
So, i've been flagging the 'puter & watching TV instead:
* late-night ARL (Aussie rugby league) certainly helps, but i'll watch Trackside even though i'm definitely not a punter at all;
* looking forward to the 'Log o' Wood' challenge (Ranfurly Shield!) - GO Southland!! Bang those Jafas!
* 'Top Gear' can generally be relied upon for the kind of hilarious idiocy that makes it entertaining for more than just petrol-heads - they've even been known to include diesels in their line-ups.. not to mention their daft racing challenges, usually along the lines of Car vs Public Transport, tho' they've also included bicycles & speed-boats (across London), & bizarre things like downhill racing (skis), parachutes (including one of those man-made squirrel-glider things!), bobsled, dog-sled (Richard 'Hamster' Hammond), light aircraft (James 'Captain Slow' May with Hammond) & rock-wall climbers.
And once or twice, of course, Jezza Clarkson's Nemesis, Sabine Schmitz - the Queen of the Nurburgring, who jeered at his barely-under-10-minute round of the 'Ring' by telling him she could do that time in a van!
All good fun, but not helping me get any work done.. {sigh}
It's now nearly 3a.m. & cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!
.
Yes, this Is a whinge!
Had to leave class last week because of my recurring problem with re-entering 'society' i.e. other people - i cop their infectoids: viruses, bacteria etc, in this case a miserable little cold! Now i'm behind again, been stuck @ home with a computer with:
* inadequate memory, which may require a 'credit card upgrade'
* a woefully slow broadband connection (ditto my neighbours, i've checked).
Makes getting around the web bloody tedious, & downloading even more so!
So, i've been flagging the 'puter & watching TV instead:
* late-night ARL (Aussie rugby league) certainly helps, but i'll watch Trackside even though i'm definitely not a punter at all;
* looking forward to the 'Log o' Wood' challenge (Ranfurly Shield!) - GO Southland!! Bang those Jafas!
* 'Top Gear' can generally be relied upon for the kind of hilarious idiocy that makes it entertaining for more than just petrol-heads - they've even been known to include diesels in their line-ups.. not to mention their daft racing challenges, usually along the lines of Car vs Public Transport, tho' they've also included bicycles & speed-boats (across London), & bizarre things like downhill racing (skis), parachutes (including one of those man-made squirrel-glider things!), bobsled, dog-sled (Richard 'Hamster' Hammond), light aircraft (James 'Captain Slow' May with Hammond) & rock-wall climbers.
And once or twice, of course, Jezza Clarkson's Nemesis, Sabine Schmitz - the Queen of the Nurburgring, who jeered at his barely-under-10-minute round of the 'Ring' by telling him she could do that time in a van!
All good fun, but not helping me get any work done.. {sigh}
It's now nearly 3a.m. & cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!
.
More on the Christchurch/Canterbury Earthquake
AFAIK the aftershock count is well in excess of 700
(it could even have topped 800 by now)..
It's taking its toll.
But i had to include this from Adrienne Rewi
because of its bizarre photos of the current state of
the Avon river!
As she says in her blog,
"Somehow you half expect buildings and other man-made structures to tumble in an earthquake but I for one, did not expect to see the ground spurting little volcanoes of sand and water. And I certainly did not ever think I would see a river disgorged of its water, its bed twisted and bulging like some giant muddy abcess."
A sobering thought - what i recall of the Avon didn't look at all like that!
.
(it could even have topped 800 by now)..
It's taking its toll.
But i had to include this from Adrienne Rewi
because of its bizarre photos of the current state of
the Avon river!
As she says in her blog,
"Somehow you half expect buildings and other man-made structures to tumble in an earthquake but I for one, did not expect to see the ground spurting little volcanoes of sand and water. And I certainly did not ever think I would see a river disgorged of its water, its bed twisted and bulging like some giant muddy abcess."
A sobering thought - what i recall of the Avon didn't look at all like that!
.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
A nasty little grenade - from the Government!
Section 6(3) states:
"The recommendation of the relevant Minister
may not be challenged, reviewed, quashed,
or called into question in any court."
WTF ????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So reads part of the
Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill
I was alerted to this nasty little piece of legislative chicanery by a post on Public Address
Now I've just heard on the 7am News that this hideous piece of legislation has been passed (?).
They've got to be kidding!!
This is an attempt to end-run both Parliament & the Courts, & what it shows - all too clearly - is a continuing addiction that old First-Past-The-Post MPs have to regarding opposition of any sort as a nuisance to be avoided by any means possible.
The late Sir Robert Muldoon was a master of this kind of dictatorship.
I don't care if they're rebuilding Canterbury or outlawing pink tiddly-winks - & i don't care if there is an expiry date (1 April 2012, which is conveniently after the next election).
No Minister should ever, ever be allowed such powers.
Ever!!
(Now they will be rebuilding Canterbury )
"The recommendation of the relevant Minister
may not be challenged, reviewed, quashed,
or called into question in any court."
WTF ????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So reads part of the
Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill
I was alerted to this nasty little piece of legislative chicanery by a post on Public Address
Now I've just heard on the 7am News that this hideous piece of legislation has been passed (?).
They've got to be kidding!!
This is an attempt to end-run both Parliament & the Courts, & what it shows - all too clearly - is a continuing addiction that old First-Past-The-Post MPs have to regarding opposition of any sort as a nuisance to be avoided by any means possible.
The late Sir Robert Muldoon was a master of this kind of dictatorship.
I don't care if they're rebuilding Canterbury or outlawing pink tiddly-winks - & i don't care if there is an expiry date (1 April 2012, which is conveniently after the next election).
No Minister should ever, ever be allowed such powers.
Ever!!
(Now they will be rebuilding Canterbury )
Day for Night - MouVery, & Devo - summer's coming..
I'm a chronic night-owl.
I can understand people who get up very early in the morning, but if i did that i'd definitely be going back to bed later on (as later that morning probably).
I jokingly tell people i keep 'Spanish hours':
eat late;
stay up till idiot-o'clock in the morning;
get a few zzz;
get up early-ish (i flag this bit) for brekkie;
have a nice siesta around midday until 2-3 pm :-)
I'd have the driver's seat of my car right back, an unzipped sleeping-bag over me, my head on a cushion, & i'd be fine-thank-you!
People would knock on my car windows just to wake me up!
So, here i am, online @ 4am & not feeling particularly tired - but then, i spent much of yesterday in bed, keeping warm in a house that is cold & uninsulated, so cluttered that the insulators would find it a real challenge, & wondering (yet again) why we in NZ put up with ridiculous power price hikes.
But i'm not in the mood for a whinge, not right now..
I found a music review of 'Devo', whose music i heard a few weeks ago in a tiny bar in Dunedin's main street - called MouVery. More about Devo here, & discography.
MouVery advertised itself as 'probably the smallest bar in the universe' - they could be right!
Eons ago there was a small supermarket next door, & a friend of mine discovered this very narrow niche beside it that had been covered in - you couldn't see anything there from the outside. He ran a cobbler's shop (footwear repairs to you) over in Frederick Street, just a hop-skip-&-jump away from from this place on George Street (opposite the 'Robbie Burns', our regular watering-hole), & he wanted to open a heel-bar there doing 5-minute repairs to women's damaged high-heels, but the idea fell through.
The next occupant was a little jewellery shop where i got my second lot of ear-piercings.
And now there's MouVery - run by Olivier - & i really really like the place!
Links include their Face-book page - the little Giraffe was cemented into the brickwork, but some bastard's nicked him..I'd've had it on a steel pin stuck into the bricks with Loctite or something..
I'd spend a whole lot more time there if i wasn't so broke, even though all i drink is coffee & hot-chocolate (my elbow-bending days eventually saw me getting dried out & later going to AA meetings). Haven't been there for a while - i hope the bubble machine is still blowing bubbles out onto George Street, or maybe that's a summer thing.
And now that we're into September, summer's coming!
We can sit outside, or in the little alley-way seats..
..& enjoy watching some of the world go by :-)
I can understand people who get up very early in the morning, but if i did that i'd definitely be going back to bed later on (as later that morning probably).
I jokingly tell people i keep 'Spanish hours':
eat late;
stay up till idiot-o'clock in the morning;
get a few zzz;
get up early-ish (i flag this bit) for brekkie;
have a nice siesta around midday until 2-3 pm :-)
I'd have the driver's seat of my car right back, an unzipped sleeping-bag over me, my head on a cushion, & i'd be fine-thank-you!
People would knock on my car windows just to wake me up!
So, here i am, online @ 4am & not feeling particularly tired - but then, i spent much of yesterday in bed, keeping warm in a house that is cold & uninsulated, so cluttered that the insulators would find it a real challenge, & wondering (yet again) why we in NZ put up with ridiculous power price hikes.
But i'm not in the mood for a whinge, not right now..
I found a music review of 'Devo', whose music i heard a few weeks ago in a tiny bar in Dunedin's main street - called MouVery. More about Devo here, & discography.
MouVery advertised itself as 'probably the smallest bar in the universe' - they could be right!
Eons ago there was a small supermarket next door, & a friend of mine discovered this very narrow niche beside it that had been covered in - you couldn't see anything there from the outside. He ran a cobbler's shop (footwear repairs to you) over in Frederick Street, just a hop-skip-&-jump away from from this place on George Street (opposite the 'Robbie Burns', our regular watering-hole), & he wanted to open a heel-bar there doing 5-minute repairs to women's damaged high-heels, but the idea fell through.
The next occupant was a little jewellery shop where i got my second lot of ear-piercings.
And now there's MouVery - run by Olivier - & i really really like the place!
Links include their Face-book page - the little Giraffe was cemented into the brickwork, but some bastard's nicked him..I'd've had it on a steel pin stuck into the bricks with Loctite or something..
I'd spend a whole lot more time there if i wasn't so broke, even though all i drink is coffee & hot-chocolate (my elbow-bending days eventually saw me getting dried out & later going to AA meetings). Haven't been there for a while - i hope the bubble machine is still blowing bubbles out onto George Street, or maybe that's a summer thing.
And now that we're into September, summer's coming!
We can sit outside, or in the little alley-way seats..
..& enjoy watching some of the world go by :-)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Christchurch/Canterbury Earthquake
I suppose i shouldn't've said 'interesting' in my last post..
but this map certainly is - i counted almost 100 events
from the time of the first big 7.1 quake until midnight that Saturday..
..and they continued - on & on - almost all week!
That's what really started to get to people living there.
Some technical stuff (including videos):
Last 6 months in NZ including a newly visible fault-line;
What lies beneath, a story with technical follow-up - as the article says:
"Saturday's magnitude 7.1 earthquake was centred near
Kirwee, approximately 44 km west of Christchurch,
at a depth of only 10 km.
So why didn't we know that this potentially
damaging fault existed beneath the Canterbury plains,
quietly building up enormous energy, so close to Christchurch?";
Where the aftershocks hit - with a larger map;
The 16,000-year-old fault;
Surprised scientists (with an 18,000 year estimate);
Solid ground turns to mush;
You can find a lot more at SciBlogs.
I was awake & felt it down in Port Chalmers (Dunedin) - 400+ km away!
My bed swayed for quite some time & i was thinking
'Should i get up & sit in a doorway?'
Later i learned that doorways should be avoided - under a solid table is better.
People are wary of Christchurch's CBD, here - more stories. And a twitter-blog.
There are stories here, here, & questions, & photos, more photos,
Canterbury University, aerial shots, peoples' photos,
including the only person really seriously injured
(there were two other fairly serious cases that i know of),
& a baby named Dianthe born during the big one.
GNS has a gallery of earthquake photos, as well as articles.
The Alpine Fault is a major geological feature.
And look at this one of the Awatere valley, in Marlborough!
GNS seismologist John Ristau said the large quake was a
"rude wake-up call" for the rest of the country,
especially Wellington, which lay on a major faultline.
Echoed by mayor Bob Parker.
Other parts of NZ weren't off the hook either.
(And there's worse)
but this map certainly is - i counted almost 100 events
from the time of the first big 7.1 quake until midnight that Saturday..
..and they continued - on & on - almost all week!
That's what really started to get to people living there.
Some technical stuff (including videos):
Last 6 months in NZ including a newly visible fault-line;
What lies beneath, a story with technical follow-up - as the article says:
"Saturday's magnitude 7.1 earthquake was centred near
Kirwee, approximately 44 km west of Christchurch,
at a depth of only 10 km.
So why didn't we know that this potentially
damaging fault existed beneath the Canterbury plains,
quietly building up enormous energy, so close to Christchurch?";
Where the aftershocks hit - with a larger map;
The 16,000-year-old fault;
Surprised scientists (with an 18,000 year estimate);
Solid ground turns to mush;
You can find a lot more at SciBlogs.
I was awake & felt it down in Port Chalmers (Dunedin) - 400+ km away!
My bed swayed for quite some time & i was thinking
'Should i get up & sit in a doorway?'
Later i learned that doorways should be avoided - under a solid table is better.
People are wary of Christchurch's CBD, here - more stories. And a twitter-blog.
There are stories here, here, & questions, & photos, more photos,
Canterbury University, aerial shots, peoples' photos,
including the only person really seriously injured
(there were two other fairly serious cases that i know of),
& a baby named Dianthe born during the big one.
GNS has a gallery of earthquake photos, as well as articles.
The Alpine Fault is a major geological feature.
And look at this one of the Awatere valley, in Marlborough!
GNS seismologist John Ristau said the large quake was a
"rude wake-up call" for the rest of the country,
especially Wellington, which lay on a major faultline.
Echoed by mayor Bob Parker.
Other parts of NZ weren't off the hook either.
(And there's worse)
Friday, September 10, 2010
Aussie election - YAAWN!
Well, well, well ('3 holes in the ground') the Aussies have a government! Woohoo!
And it took only a fortnight - not long at all really{dribble}..
It takes longer than that to get Cabinet Ministers up & running, familiar with their portfolios, avoiding premature foot-in-mouth disease (that comes later - & inevitably), figuring out how much of the less main-stream parts of the ruling party's agenda can make it through the Legislature..
Duh-duh-duh..
What is/was all the fuss about? It was never a 'hung' parliament - there were always at least two options open: a Labor-led government or one led by the other lot (?? - like i can be bothered)..
What else could've happened immediately?
Five-eighths of SFA, that's what!
There's a constitutional procedure to be followed: the G-G asks both major parties if either can form a government; nothing new there. OK, so it wasn't the usual winner-takes-all outcome, but to listen to all the hysterical nonsense you'd've thought the Sky Was Falling - poor li'l Chicken-Lickens!
Really the only potential constitutional problem would be if neither party could guarantee 'Confidence & Supply', & even then you could still get a minority government though the G-G mightn't've been too struck on that..
Other than that, it's just a matter of governing sitting-day to sitting-day - you win some, you lose some; what's the problem?
Yes, yes, all right, the hard-liners are going to be really p**ssed off at not being able to deal to their opponents without so much as a by-your-leave (no five-minutes-to-midnight stuff jammed thru Parliament under 'urgency' or whatever),
but that's Democracy for you!!
Great, eh!!
It'll take ages for the worst to come to the worst (if it ever does, which i now doubt very much indeed), but that would mean:
1. Julia Gillard's government alienates the Independents so much that they withdraw C&S & her government falls to a Motion of No Confidence;
2. Tony Abbot's mob get asked if they can rustle up the numbers to get a C&S agreement & form a government, (the G-G does his stuff);
3. That fails, & the G-G enquires as to any other possibilities, lots of re-jiggling of political alliances, & eventually..
4. Nothing comes of all the horse-trading & another election looms.. Oh dearie me, that's going to p*ss the public off more than anything else: having to listen to all the bullsh*t all over again..
That's all, folks, nothing to worry about..
Now can we talk about something more interesting, like the Canterbury earthquakes!
And it took only a fortnight - not long at all really{dribble}..
It takes longer than that to get Cabinet Ministers up & running, familiar with their portfolios, avoiding premature foot-in-mouth disease (that comes later - & inevitably), figuring out how much of the less main-stream parts of the ruling party's agenda can make it through the Legislature..
Duh-duh-duh..
What is/was all the fuss about? It was never a 'hung' parliament - there were always at least two options open: a Labor-led government or one led by the other lot (?? - like i can be bothered)..
What else could've happened immediately?
Five-eighths of SFA, that's what!
There's a constitutional procedure to be followed: the G-G asks both major parties if either can form a government; nothing new there. OK, so it wasn't the usual winner-takes-all outcome, but to listen to all the hysterical nonsense you'd've thought the Sky Was Falling - poor li'l Chicken-Lickens!
Really the only potential constitutional problem would be if neither party could guarantee 'Confidence & Supply', & even then you could still get a minority government though the G-G mightn't've been too struck on that..
Other than that, it's just a matter of governing sitting-day to sitting-day - you win some, you lose some; what's the problem?
Yes, yes, all right, the hard-liners are going to be really p**ssed off at not being able to deal to their opponents without so much as a by-your-leave (no five-minutes-to-midnight stuff jammed thru Parliament under 'urgency' or whatever),
but that's Democracy for you!!
Great, eh!!
It'll take ages for the worst to come to the worst (if it ever does, which i now doubt very much indeed), but that would mean:
1. Julia Gillard's government alienates the Independents so much that they withdraw C&S & her government falls to a Motion of No Confidence;
2. Tony Abbot's mob get asked if they can rustle up the numbers to get a C&S agreement & form a government, (the G-G does his stuff);
3. That fails, & the G-G enquires as to any other possibilities, lots of re-jiggling of political alliances, & eventually..
4. Nothing comes of all the horse-trading & another election looms.. Oh dearie me, that's going to p*ss the public off more than anything else: having to listen to all the bullsh*t all over again..
That's all, folks, nothing to worry about..
Now can we talk about something more interesting, like the Canterbury earthquakes!
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